Eyes of a Stranger
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: Songfic, Anakin knows that when they look Vader in the eyes, they do not see the eyes of Anakin Skywalker. They see the eyes of a stranger. Set to “Eyes of a Stranger” by Queensryche. R&R slightly AU. Rated K for safety. Not sure if genre is correct.


**Author's Note: Inspired by the "Eyes of a Stranger" music video on YouTube. It's a very good song and I hope that you like this oneshot. This is slightly AU because Anakin didn't actually start to reawaken until after the incident at Bespin. So here it is and I hope you like it and sorry for repeating myself, I do that a lot.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or the song "Eyes of a Stranger", George Lucas and Queensryche do**_

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**Eyes of a Stranger**

**By xBlaze of FuryX**

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Things haven't always been this way with nothing more than a memory that kept him going along. For eighteen years since the incident at Mustafar, the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, has struggled to push aside the memories of his past, the memories of her, in particular.

**All alone now,**

**Except for the memories,**

**Of what we had and what we knew,**

But it's hard, Vader never thought it would be this hard, especially faced with everything that has been going on for the past months. The attack on the Death Star and the discovery of a Force sensitive, a Force sensitive that was unnaturally strong in the Force. And then, Palpatine comes up to him and tells him the rebel who destroyed the Death Star was in fact the offspring of Anakin Skywalker.

Vader's son, no, Anakin's son, Padmé's son, the young rebel was another thing that kept him from moving on and leaving his past behind him.

**Every time I try to leave it behind me,**

**I see some thing that reminds me of you,**

Memories haunt Vader's mind and the one memory that seems to haunt him, the dreams that will not go away no matter how hard he tried was of the incident that occurred at Mustafar. Of his beloved Padmé and of what he did to her that night, the night his child must have been born, the night his beloved had died. Ever since that day, Vader has been unable to sleep, unable to return to the land of dreams and relive that moment in his life. All he can see is his beloved staring back at him, with disbelief and betrayal shining in her eyes.

**Every night the dreams return to haunt me,**

**Your rosary wrapped around your throat,**

**I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep,**

**I see your face looking back at me,**

**Looking back at me…**

_No, stop thinking about her,_ Vader told himself silently but he couldn't and he found himself again swimming in his past. More importantly, Anakin Skywalker sat in the back of Vader's mind, thinking about what had happened in the past eighteen years since he nearly destroyed everything that he held dear to him.

_What have I become?_ Anakin cried silently in the vaults of his alter ego's mind as he stared at himself in a mirror of the refresher in his chambers.

**And I raise my head and stare,**

**Into the eyes of a stranger,**

**I've always known that the mirror never lies,**

Only a select few know of who Vader truly was but Anakin can still see the disbelief and the betrayal shining in the eyes of those who knew the truth. The people who knew what Anakin Skywalker had become a murderer, a traitor, and a sadistic monster known as Vader. They don't know what he is capable of and they are afraid to find out.

**People always turn away,**

**From the eyes of a stranger,**

**Afraid to know what,**

**Lies behind the stare,**

Vader has never felt so alone in his life. He lost everything on that night on Mustafar and the only thing he knows is that nothing will ever be the same again. Anakin knew this to be true. In the back of his alter ego's mind, Anakin Skywalker is about ready to give up, to just leave what was left of his life behind him. Leave all the pain, all the suffering he sees in the eyes of the victims of his alter ego. He wanted nothing more than to leave it all behind, to go away and never return, never have to witness the cruel things his alter ego does. Never having to continue to remember what occurred because of his betrayal.

There were no such things as happy endings, Anakin knew this and he figured there was no point in fighting it. He might as well give up and leave it all behind, there was nothing left for him.

Or was there?

**Is this all that's left,**

**Of my life before me,**

**Straight jacket memories, sedative high,**

**No happy ending like they've always promised,**

**There's got t be something left for me,**

To Anakin Skywalker, that was why it came as a shock to him when he learned he had a son. When he learned Padmé must have survived long enough to give birth, to name their son before she passed on. It wax his fault, no, it was all Vader's fault.

_But Vader is me,_ Anakin reminded himself silently. _Vader is me, I am Vader, I am responsible for everything that has become, that has taken place since the rise of the Empire. _

**And I raise my head and stare,**

**Into the eyes of a stranger,**

**I've always known that the mirror never lies,**

_I am the one responsible for why people look away when they watch me. I am Vader, Vader is me and nothing will ever change that,_ Anakin told himself silently as he continued to watch everything his alter ego was doing. Watching all the havoc his alter ego was causing and afraid to do anything about it. He couldn't do anything about it, he wasn't even supposed to be here, Anakin Skywalker died on Mustafar.

And yet, why was there some part of Vader that still held on to Anakin Skywalker?

**People always turn away,**

**From the eyes of a stranger,**

**Afraid to know what,**

**Lies behind the stare,**

**Lies behind my stare,**

Anakin understood now, Palpatine had lied to him about everything. He had lied to him about the death of his wife and child. But even though he lied to him, Anakin still had to deal with the memories of what he had done. It was his fault Padmé gave up on the will to live, his betrayal had caused her to give up.

He was the one that caused the tragedy and now he has to live with the memories of what he lost that day.

**How many times must I live this tragedy?**

**How many more lies will they tell me?**

But he had gained something that day as well, he may have lost his best friend, the man he looked up to as the father figure he never had. He may have lost his beloved wife but he gained something in return.

A son.

It was the knowledge that his son was still alive that caused Anakin to reawaken in the back of Vader's mind. But Anakin was still too weak to try and return. Vader's mind was still filled with the despair and the anger that had caused him to fall in the first place. Anakin began to wonder if there was any way he could return. Was there anyway he can go back to being Anakin Skywalker and leave his past behind him?

_Why am I here?_ Anakin wondered silently as he roamed the deepest darkest part of Vader's mind. _And for how long?_

**All I want is the same as everyone,**

**Why am I here and for how long?**

Everyone looks at Anakin and sees only Vader. They don't know anything about what he had been like before his fall. They only see what Palpatine wants them to see the very image of death and destruction itself. They don't see the good man Anakin had been; they only see the monster he had become. They only see a stranger in place of a man who would have brought balance to the Force.

**And I raise my head and stare,**

**Into the eyes of a stranger,**

**I've always known that the mirror never lies,**

They only see a stranger, a stranger who is nothing like Anakin Skywalker. Who kills and betrays and does everything the Emperor commands him to do. They don't see the stubborn, hothead, reckless and yet very caring and nice person Vader had once been. They don't see this, Anakin knew this to be true, they don't see this. All they see when they look into Vader's eyes is a stranger.

**People always turn away,**

**From the eyes of a stranger,**

They are afraid to see the truth; afraid to see whom Vader really was. They only want to see Anakin as he is now. They don't want to see who Anakin had been before his fall. Anakin knows that when they look Vader in the eyes, they do not see the eyes of Anakin Skywalker.

They see the eyes of a stranger.

**Afraid to know what,**

**Lies behind the stare**

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**A/n what do you think?**

**Blaze: I liked it, especially the ending**

**Darth: it was okay**

**Blaze: is that all you have to say?**

**Darth: yeah**

**Anakin: it's so true, when people look at me they only see Vader, they are afraid to see what is beyond**

**Vader: God, you are soft**

**Anakin: shut up, alter ego**

**Vader: you're supposed to be dead**

**Anakin: I've been alive since you found out your, I mean, my son, was still alive**

**Vader: (snorts)**

**Blaze: okay then, please review and I really hope you liked it and I want to see what people think about it.**


End file.
